Reflections...

     As this semester comes to a close, I find myself at a loss as to what I should blog about. That being said, it is probably best for me to make this post broad and somewhat of a conclusion about my now refined view of human nature. Stepping into the classroom in January, I am sure that most students did not really know what they were in for. After all, "The Nature of Human Nature" sounds pretty vague. But, as the class progressed, I found it increasingly interesting through its discussion of a range of philosophical topics from altruism to the supernatural. Through blogging I have been able to think about these topics fully by applying them to the world around me and drawing examples from my own life in order to understand them. I now realize that human nature is simply those pre-programmed tendencies in our brains that are relatively universal across all humans, no matter what their culture is. As humans, we all act in certain ways and do certain things that we wish we could change. In other words, we discriminate against each other, wage war, and when it comes down to it, we always put our own interests above those of others around us. For thousands of years people have been trying to change these things, but if history can tell us anything, it is that we are most likely not going to change. In general, the broad themes of the future will most likely be extremely similar to those of the past, despite advances in such areas as technology. To quote a Kesha song, "we are who we are" and that is not going to change. Perhaps the best way to improve our future would be to recognize our weaknesses and attempt to modify our behavior so as perhaps it will one day evolve to be different. Do you believe that the human race will ever have the capacity to truly change? Do you believe that our race will ever become extinct?